Highland Village to be Part of Museum Family

Nova Scotia Highland Village will be officially welcomed as the newest member of the Nova Scotia Museum family at a public event and ceilidh at the Highland Village in Iona, Cape Breton, on Saturday, June 17, beginning at 1:45 p.m.

Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism & Culture, will be on hand to welcome the village on behalf of the province. Together with representatives from the village and the Nova Scotia Museum, the official party will "walk the borders" of the land, an ancient Scottish tradition symbolizing property ownership.

Highland Village is the Nova Scotia Museum's first bilingual site, with both English and Gaelic spoken. As one of Cape Breton's major cultural institutions, it is dedicated to promoting and preserving Gaelic language, culture and heritage.

"Our government is committed to building on Cape Breton's strengths and Nova Scotia Highland Village is a strong contributor to both museum development on the island and to the cultural and heritage sector in the province," said Mr. MacDonald. "The village will be a valuable asset to the Nova Scotia Museum family and will firmly establish the provincial museum's presence on the island."

The Nova Scotia Museum Board of Governors recommended making Nova Scotia Highland Village a provincially owned museum site in 1998 after wide-ranging consultations with the Cape Breton heritage community. The government accepted the recommendation as part of its budget commitments for 2000-2001.

The Scottish Gaelic tradition and language, an important part of Nova Scotian culture, have been in danger of disappearing and are not represented by any other museum. As part of the Nova Scotia Museum family, the village will strengthen links between individuals and institutions dedicated to preserving Gaelic heritage, culture and language in Nova Scotia and beyond.

The village's inclusion in the Nova Scotia Museum family will also help to build on its tourism potential. In 1999, Nova Scotia Highland Village experienced a 30 per cent growth in visitation and is becoming an international tourist attraction.

Situated in Iona, overlooking the Bras d'Or Lake, the Nova Scotia Highland Village is a 43-acre historic village celebrating Scottish Gaelic heritage, culture and language in Cape Breton. Visitors hear the language and see the lifestyle of the highland Scots pioneers from their arrival in Cape Breton in the late- 1700s to the 1920s. The village includes a replica Hebridian- style Blackhouse (Taigh Dubh), several houses (1830, 1865 and 1920), a school (circa 1900), a forge, a general store, barn and a carding mill.

In the village, costumed interpreters demonstrate traditional activities of the highland and island Scots in rural Nova Scotia, such as Gaelic singing, fireplace cooking, weaving, wood dyeing, and blacksmithing. A computer-assisted genealogical research service called Roots Cape Breton is operated on site by the Highland Village Society. An outdoor entertainment and theatre facility and gift shop also form part of the complex.

The Highland Village Society was incorporated in 1959 and the village was operating as a museum by the mid-1960s. Nova Scotia Highland Village has been recognized as an outstanding community museum. It is open year-round and employs 22 full and part-time interpreters, researchers and administrators. The day-to-day operation of the village will continue to be managed locally by the Highland Village Society, while its buildings and artifacts become part of the provincial collection.

Admission is free Saturday, June 17. The ceilidh, also a free, public event, begins at 7 p.m. The Highland Village is located on Route 223 (from Trans-Canada Hwy 105, exit 6, Little Narrows or exit 3 at North Sydney). Contact on site, Rodney Chaisson, 902-725-2272.

The Nova Scotia Museum family is part of the Department of Tourism and Culture. Sites across Nova Scotia include historic houses, working mills, and historic villages, in settings unchanged over hundreds of years as well as museums dedicated to preserving and presenting to the public our natural, industrial and maritime history.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Tourism and Culture Minister Rodney MacDonald will be available to speak with the media at 1:30 p.m., June 17, prior to the festivities.